PORTLAND, Ore. — After trailing early to Lewis & Clark, the George Fox women's basketball team collected their first win of the season, 61-52, to get conference play started off hot and earn Bruin head coach Lauren Howard her first collegiate win.

How It Happened
Though the Bruins struck first in the first quarter, they were ultimately outscored in a closely contested period. Fox trailed by as many as seven after a 9-0 Pio run early on, but fought to bring it back to a one point deficit by the end of the first. However, a buzzer-beating triple by the Pios extended the lead, putting the Bruins in a 16-12 hole at the end of the quarter. 

The Bruins responded to this deficit by outscoring the Pios 20-12 in the second quarter, promptly responding with a run of nine unanswered. Claire Hinds carried the scoring in the run, scoring five of the Bruins' eight, with Marissa Bartels and Ella Roberts chipping in as well. Fox carried the momentum from the second. into halftime, flipping the score and taking a 32-28 lead with them into the second half. 

After a back-and-forth quarter that saw the Pios re-take the lead, the Bruins finished off the quarter with a run of seven unanswered to take a six point lead into the final quarter. Despite the Pios shooting 50% from the field in the quarter, a stingy Bruin defense forced seven turnovers to keep the lead.

The Bruins once again outscored the Pios in the final quarter, with a final free throw by Ella Roberts in the dwindling seconds of the quarter to secure the game. Though the Pios made a couple attempts to grab back the momentum, the Bruins stifled them, keeping their lead at four points throughout the second half of the quarter to collect their first win under their new head coach. 

Top Performers
Ella Roberts led the Bruins with 16 points on offense; the senior was one of four players to score 10-plus, with Jenna Lacey, Marissa Bartels, and Claire Hinds all scoring 10., Erin Yoshitake pitched in five assists to keep the offense rolling, while Hinds led the team with three steals,

Coach's Thoughts
"We played awesome team basketball tonight," Howard said, "It is a game of runs and we did a great job keeping energy and motivation during their runs and then capitalizing offensively. We had kids step up and play a pivotal role in our success tonight. I could not be more proud of this group."

What It Means
The Bruins improved to 1-2 on the season, while collecting their first conference win of the year, moving them to 1-0. The Pios fall to 1-3 (0-1 NWC).

Whats Next
The Bruins take on Puget Sound tomorrow in Newberg at 4:00 p.m. looking to win their second in a row.